"

"Why," said they, somewhat taken aback--"why, we might do that,
perhaps."

"I'm ready to buy it," said Geissler.

Oh, that Geissler! With the courtyard full of people now, listening
to every word; all the Sellanraa folk, and the stoneworkers and the
messengers. Like as not, he could never have raised the money, nor
anything near it, for such a deal; but, again, who could say? A man
beyond understanding was Geissler. Anyhow, his last words rather
disconcerted those gentlemen on horseback. Was it a trick? Did he
reckon to make his own land seem worth more by this manoeuvre?

The gentlemen thought it over; ay, they even began to talk softly
together about it; they got down from their horses again. Then the
engineer put in a word; he thought, no doubt, it was getting beyond
all bearing. And he seemed to have some power, some kind of authority
here. And the yard was full of folk all listening to what was going
on. "We'll not sell," said he.

"Not?" asked his companions.

"No."

They whispered together again, and they mounted their horses once
more--in earnest this time. "Twenty-five thousand!" called out one of
them. Geissler did not answer, but turned away, and went over to talk
to the stoneworkers again.

And that was the end of their last meeting.

Geissler appeared to care nothing for what might come of it. He walked
about talking of this, that, and the other; for the moment he seemed
chiefly interested in the laying of some heavy beams across the shell
of the new cowhouse. They were to get the work finished that week,
with a temporary roof--a new fodder loft was to be built up over later
on.

Isak kept Sivert away from the building work now, and left him
idle--and this he did with a purpose, that Geissler might find the lad
ready at any time if he wanted to go exploring with him in the hills.
But Isak might have saved himself the trouble; Geissler had given up
the idea, or perhaps forgotten all about it. What he did was to get
Inger to pack him up some food, and set off down the road. He stayed
away till evening.

He passed the two new clearings that had been started below Sellanraa,
and talked to the men there; went right down to Maaneland to see what
Axel Stroem had got done that year. Nothing very great, it seemed; not
as much as he might have wished, but he had put in some good work on
the land. Geissler took an interest in this place, too, and asked him:
"Got a horse?"

"Ay."

"Well, I've a m